30
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 60The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinTo his credit, Mr. Ropelewski comes up with fairly novel forms of mayhem and makes an effort to tie up most of the loose ends when the film is over.
- 50Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertOn a few occasions it's very funny, but it never quite goes over the top and gets the big laughs it is obviously aiming for.
- 50Entertainment WeeklyTy BurrEntertainment WeeklyTy BurrThe tacky New Jersey cousin with the nauseous cat, the gold-digging sister, the drug-running nephew — these are cruel cartoons, as grating to the viewer as they are to their hosts. Tucked between the pratfalls, though, is some surprisingly deft comedy.
- 40EmpireAngie ErrigoEmpireAngie ErrigoGauged on a count of wit or originality this doesn't even register.
- 40Los Angeles TimesMichael WilmingtonLos Angeles TimesMichael WilmingtonMadhouse grabs you by the lapels and tries to shake the laughs out of you. But it’s never very funny, despite the best efforts of that facile TV farceur Larroquette and the sexiest contortions of Kirstie Alley.
- 38Chicago TribuneJohanna SteinmetzChicago TribuneJohanna SteinmetzIn Madhouse, writer-director Tom Ropelewski doesn't so much serve up an idea as force-feed it down our gullets. It takes a game bird to sit through the entire movie. [16 Feb 1990, p.K]
- Though the material in Madhouse is intentionally sophomoric, though slapstick comedies can be funny, and though there's nothing wrong with a bit of good silliness, assured, deftly paced direction and adroit, lively performances are necessary to pull such broad comic romps off. Madhouse fails to deliver on both these crucial counts.
- 20Time OutTime OutA standard extremist farce, lazily written and fumblingly directed.
- 12Boston GlobeJay CarrBoston GlobeJay CarrAs a film, it's as crass and awful as the house guests from hell to which it so unwarrantedly feels superior. How bad is Madhouse? Bad enough to make a critic think that the similarly themed National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is art, right down to its fried cat. [16 Feb 1990, p.87p]
- 0Washington PostRita KempleyWashington PostRita KempleyMadhouse is excruciating fluff for moviegoing masochists. It's what bad cinephiles can expect in the cineplexes of hell. No, it's probably already on video there.